


PERSONAL EXPERIENCE 



As a Staff Officer at Mine Run, and in Albemarle County Raid; 

and as Commander of the Forty -Third Regiment United 

States Colored Troops through the Wilderness Campaign, 

and at the Mine before Petersburg, Virginia, from, 

Nmmnber 7th, 1863, to July 30th, 186Jf. 




KANSAS COMMANDERY 



—OF THE- 



Militaij Order of the Loyal Legion .teOoited States. 



WAR PAPER. 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCE 

^ OF A STAFF OFFICER AT i^ 

Mine Run and Albemarle County Raid, 

— : AND AS :— 

CoiiiiuaudCT of the 43r(l RegiineDt 11. S. Colored Troops, 

■m: THROUGH THE :!^ 

^\^ILDERNESS CAMPAIGN, 



AND AT THE 

■• • • 



Mine - Delore - PetersDurg, - Virpia. 

From November 7, 1863 to July 30, 1864. 



A. HAPKR 

Prepared and Read Before the 

KANSAS COMMAND ERY 

^== OP THE ^~ 

Military Order of \k Loyal Lofioii t United States. 

October 3, 1894. 
By Companion, 

h!'seymour hall, 

Brigadier General U- S. Vols., by Brevet. 



"^Ih^^l 






(N BXCH^NOi 

K^v>. Stft.- Vlisc. ^oo 

!2[ily'06 



PERSONAL EXPERIENCE 

As a Staff Offcer at Mine Bim, and in Albemarle County Raid; 
and as Commander of the Forty -Third Regiment United 
States Colored Troops through the Wilderness Campaign^ and 
at the Mine hefore Peterslmrg^ Ya.^ from November 1^ 1863^ 
to July 30, 186^. 



From the brilliant victory at Rappahannock Station, Va.,* 
where I was servino; on the staff of General Emory Upton, then 
Colonel commanding- the Second Brigade, First Division, Sixth 
Army Corps, to March 27th, 1864, I was on duty with the grand 
old Brigade in which I had seen nearly three years active service. 
General Grant was with us in the field as commander-in-chief of all 
the Armies of the United States, March 26th. General Meade 
was commander of the Army of the Potomac. 

November 8th, in obedience to verbal orders from General 
Upton, the duties of Assistant Adjutant General of the brigade were 
discharged by me in addition to those of my former staff office of 
Assistant Inspector General, our As.sistant Adjutant General hav- 
ing been disabled in the battle of the previous night, and sent to the 
hospital. The work in the two staff departments all devolved on 
me for over four months, till my promotion by the President, and 
order of March 19, 1864, took me to Philadelphia, to organize the 
43rd Regiment U. S. Colored Troops. 

On the 11th of November, General Upton with four officers 

*Tliis is one of the battles, the name and date of which, the War Department 
caused to be engraved on the Medal of Honor from Congress, which was awarded 
to General Hall for gallantry in action. 



— 4 — 



^vho had distinguished themselves in the assault, w^s detailed to 
take the EiGHT^stands of colors that we had captured rem the en- 
emy on the 7th, and deliver them formally to General Meade a his 
He;dquarters of the Army. 1 had the honor to be one of the four 
who accompanied General Upton, and with him were recei^^d by 
General Meade, and Generals Humphreys, Warren and W ilhams 
in General Meade's tent, in the most courteous and complimentary 
manner as we performed the pleasant duty of delivering- our tro- 
phies. Havino- discharged that duty, we were entertained for half 
an hour, or more, socially, in a very pleasant way by the Com- 
manding General, and the Generals of his stafl whose names i 

have mentioned. . 4^- ^^-u 

The routine of camp duty went on without mterruptioii till 
the 2()th, when we were visited by a party of distinguished otiicers 
of the Eno-lish army, consisting of Lieutenant Colonel Larle, 
his Adjutant, Lord Castleculf , of the Scots Fusileer Guai-cls and 
Captains Russell and Stevens of th(> Grenadier Guards both of 
those fine regiments belonging to the Queen's Household Troops, 
whose special duty it was to attend their sovereign. After the re- 
view of the Sixth Corps, which was given for the entertamnient of 
those officers, by invitation I attended a reception given to them at 
General Sedgwick's Headquarters, where a tine collation was serv- 
ed and we had a very pleasant social gathering. 

At daylight on the morning of the 26th, we moved out of 
camp, past Brandy Station and Mountain "Run Mills, to Jacobs 
Ford on the Rapidan, bivcniaced toward morning on the nor h bank 
of the ri^er, crossed it at sunrisa on the mornin? of the 27th, and 
pushed out, following the Third Corps. At 3 p. m. our brigade 
was detached from the Sixth Corps, sent to the e t of (xeneral 
Neal's command, to support a portion of the Third Corps, where 
we participated with them in the hotly contested !>attle of Locust 
drove At midnight we changed position again, and after a night 
march took position on the right of the second corps, near Robert- 
son's Tavern, which was our position during that battle and the op- 
erations of the latter part of the night and early morning of the 
28th, when the enemy having fallen l)ack, we pushed on in the ram 
till ^e came upon his new and strongly fortified lines at Mine Run, 
where we took our place in the lire of assault on the right of he 
Second Corps. We held this place all night and through Sunday the 



2<Jth, till Monday morning, November 30th, at 2 a. m., when we 
moved quietly two miles to the right, our purpose being to turn 
and assail the left of the enemy at the same hour that Warren 
would fall upon his right, Warren's guns, at 1) a. m., to be our sig- 
n:d to Ijegin our attack. 

The night was extremely cold, we moved to our point of at- 
tack- as silently as possil)le, totally concealing our movement from 
the enemy ; we could not make lires to warm us or make coii'ee 
without revealing our designs to the enemy, nor stir about to warm 
ourselves without being discovered, and we would lie down as close 
to each other as possible and shiver and sufier in silence. General 
Upton and myself collected what few dead leaves we could get, and 
each had a buffalo robe, we lay down upon our slender stock of 
leaves, covered ourselves with the two robes, where we remained 
till daylight, chilled to the marrow with the intense cold. AVhen 
daylight came we could see the fidl strength of the enemy's posi- 
tion and fortilications, which we were expecting to assault, and 
the sight was not calculated to warm our blood or arouse our en- 
thusiasm, and never before had it been my fortune to see men so 
coolly and deliberately ])repare for death. There was no thought 
of retreat or of failure, liut most of the men knowing that their 
knapsacks w(;re to be left ])ehind, deliberately put them in order, 
left some last message with a comrade, or in their knapsacks, and 
as I never saw them do before, put some mark on their clothing by 
which they could be identitied. The timber hid us from the ene- 
my till 8 a. m. of the 30th, when General Sedgwick ordered his ar- 
tillery to open, our knajisacks and every other incumbrance were laid 
aside, and every one prepared for what we expected to be the most 
desperate assault we had ever undertaken. General Warren on the 
left of the army had made similar preparation, and we awaited 
only the sound of his cannon to let go the stern array of our bat- 
talions. 

After a careful examination of the enenn^'s position, Warren 
sent for General Meade to come and see for himself the desperate 
nature of the enterprise, and the order to assault was countermand- 
ed by the commander of the army in person. 

We lay all day long threateningly confronting those strongly 
fortified heights, fully manned by a most gallant army, ^vhose 
bravery and endurance we had amply tested, falling back at night 



— 6 — 
unmolested, probably because our movement was unknown by the 

enemy. , i v -i. 

GeneralsLeeandEiil b fi animr.dvort upon the barbarity 
of iHirnino- the house and tannery where leather and shoes were 
made for the women and children of the neighborhood. They do 
not sav that their troops were helped to supplies from the same 
source,' but this was not the reason why the burning was done.. I 
do not know who did it or who ordered it, if it was ordered ; this 
entry in my own hand writing, when I had my right hand to use, 
made in a book that was carried l\y me, gives the reason for the 
Imrning: -Decem1)er 1, 1K3. Moved at night by a very slow 
and tedious march to the river, recrossed at Germama Ford 
about daylight. So ended the Mine Run campaign. Mr. Johnson 
Lad his hou^e and tannery burned, because of his brutal treatment 
of our wounded.'' The lengthy screed of Lee and Early on Yan- 
kee barbarity is fully answered by this simple statement of fact. 

We returned to our former camp near W'-lford's Ford, and a 
week later crossed the Hazel river, going into winter camp on the 
farm of a Mr. Major, none of whose own family were on the place. 
We made here the tinest winter camp that our brigade ever 
constructed. The timl)er houses of the men were models of neat- 
ness and comfort, and many of them were beautiful specimens of 
rural architecture. Some troops of the engineer corps were set 
to buildino- a trestle bridge across the Hazel. Criticisms were 
made by some of our ])rigade on the structure and the time occu- 
pied in ))uildino- it, which resulted in our pioneer corps being tak- 
en charoe of by a captain of the .5th Maine Volunteers, put to con- 
structin'o- a trestle brid-^e, which th3y did in a very few hours, 
taking all mit^rial fron the stmlii? tro3^ of the near forest. 
l)uilt1rom them a bridge of great strength and utility. 

A fleet of Russian war vessels was at this time visiting our 
shores and the Admiral commanding with his principal officers 
left their ships lying at anchor in the Potomac and came out to 
visit General Meade and his army. The Sixth Corps was in ex- 
cellent discipline and condition, and we were ordered out for re- 
view by General Meade, who furnished horses for the distin- 
guished visitors to ride with him in the inspection and review. 
They not being as much at home in the saddle as on deck, when 
the General irave his horse the rein, their clinging to the pommels 



of their saddles and frantic clutches to pull down their trousers, 
uH'orded us much amusement. This review was followed by a hos- 
pital)le entertainment at General Sedgwick's headquarters in Dr. 
Welford's mansion, at which I was present, and this time General 
C. A. Whittier emulated the eliorts of the chief of one of my stall' 
departments, Colonel J. Ford Kent, when he was especially atten- 
tive to Lord Castlecutf and Captain George Meade, son of the 
General, at the previous festivities of which I have spoken, and 
^vith the same douljly happy results. Whittier devoted himself to 
:i young- officer of the fleet and with a beer and a sherry glass, in- 
timated by signs that he desired to regale the representative of 
the Czar, and seizing a flask of what was supposed to be the Russian 
nectar, old Cognac brandy, began to till the glasses. The "schoon- 
er" was tilled to the brim, the diminutive sherry glass nearly so, 
when quickly the visitor raised the latter, with a courteous bow 
to his host, and Whittier as courteously launched the well laden 
schooner, contrary to his hospitable intentions. Our brigade camp 
was considered a model one to show to distinguished visitors, 
and a few days after our naval guests departed. General, then 
Major Whittier came over with Colonel Lyman of General Meade's 
staff, Mr. Blackmoor, of Liverpool, England, and Ca})tain Farrar. 
I had the [)leasure of entertaining them and showing them through 
our camps, which were highly commended by them. 

At this time General Joseph J. Bartlett was in command of 
the tirst division. Fifth Corps, and Deceml^er 23, 1 rode over to 
see him, and at his invitation remained and dined with him. As 
had previously been arranged, I gave him an invitation to come 
with his stati' officers, and meet the officers of our brigade, which 
he had so long connnanded, next day at our head(iuarters, without 
informing him of our pur^jose. He came, and we presented him 
with a fine gold watch, on the l)ack of which his initials, J. J. B., 
were set in diamonds, and ii First Division, Sixth Corps cross, 
studded with diamonds, as souvenirs of our regard for him. A 
few weeks previous 1 had been present at General Sedgwick's 
headquarters in Wiirrenton, when his Division that he had com- 
manded before being assigned to the command of the Sixth Corps, 
made him a present of a tine saddle and set of horse equipments, 
and a magniticently jeweled sword. While these pleasant gather- 
ings were occasionally giving us some slight relaxation, the stern- 



— 8 — 

er duties of the service were not neglected, the greatest attention 
was paid to health ; fatigue duty, drill, and picket service, were 
thoroughly done, and at no time in its history was the Army of 
the Potomac in a higher state of efficiency. 

U. S. District Judge Campbell, of Cherry Valley, New York, 
came down in February 1864, to visit his son. Captain Cleveland 
J. Campbell, 121st N. Y. V., who was at that time in Washington, 
lioth he and myself having taken an examination before the board 
of which Major General Silas Casey was president, the examina- 
tions resulting in Captian Campbell being appointed Lieutenant 
Colonel of the 23rd, and myself Lieutenant Colonel of the 43rd 
Regiment United States Colored Trooi)s. In the absence of his 
son, who was my intimate friend, the Judge became my guest at 
brigade headquarters, and having expressed a desire to meet Gen- 
eral Sedgwick, I took him to see the General, in whose tent we 
found General Pleasanton and General Todd, a brother of Mrs. 
Lincoln. After I introduced the Judge, the conversation finally 
turned to reminiscences of plains service, when General Pleasan- 
ton said that he was on duty in the Black Hills country before the 
war, the gold discoveries not then having lieen made ; as he was 
ordered to a different station, the well known missionary priest, 
Father de Smet, said to him, '''Cai)tain if you will resign, and en- 
gage in mining here, I will show yor where you can literally rake 
up the nuggets of gold," but, says the General, straightening ])ack 
with his lofty air of princely indifference, ""'I did not care any- 
thing about the gold, money was no ol)ject to me." 

February 27, 1864, the Sixth Corps left its camps in charge 
of guards and we moved out to the support of General Custer for 
a raid into Albemarle county, Virginia, our route being to Cul- 
pepper and James City, near Thoroughfare mountain, the first 
day ; moving to Robertson's river on the 28th where we remained 
on the 29th, while General Custer advanced toward Charlottes- 
ville, crossed the Rivanna, doing tlu; enemy considerable damage, 
recrossed, burned the wagon bridge, and having accomplished the 
object of the expedition, bv determining the position and strength 
of the enemy, we returned to our camp on the Hazel on the second 
of March. Here my appointment was received on the 20th, my 
acceptance and oath of office sent to the War Department. Gen- 
eral Upton was temporarily absent, and no one at brigade head- 



— 9 — 

(luarlors was familiar with the Adjutant and Inspector General's 
duties, so I remained till his return. 

The tirst of the successive steps that led up to the emancipa- 
tion of slaves, and their ultimate employment as soldiers, are 
found in the proclamation of President Lincoln September 22, 
1862, in which while he declares that ''hereafter, as heretofore, 
the war will l)e prosecuted for the object of practically restoring 
the constitutional rehition between the United States and each of 
the States, and the people thereof, in which States that relation 
is or may l)e suspended, or disturbed." His purpose is to declare 
slaves free in all parts of the country which shall he in rebellion 
on the 1st day of January 1863, and to ask Congress to provide 
for emancipation with comi)ensation to those slave owners who 
may not at that time be the peoi)le of a slave State then in rebel- 
lion against the United States. 

The emanci})ation })roclamation was issued January 1, 1863, 
and in it is found the tirst authority to give the colored man mili- 
tary employment, in these words, "And I further declare and 
make known that such persons, of suitable condition, \vill be re- 
ceived into the armed service of the United States to garrison 
forts, i)ositions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of 
all sorts in said service.'' Limited as is this service, Congress is 
still mo^-e unwilling to fully trust the freedman, and in the Act 
approved March 3, 1863, set up this standard. Section 10. "The 
President of the United States is authorized to cause to l)e enlisted 
fi)r each cook, Iavo under cooks of African descent, who shall re- 
ceive for their full compensation ten dollars per month, and one 
ration per dtiy ; three dollars of said monthly pay may be in 
clothing.'' 

The Congress of the Confederate States of America, passed 
May 1, 1863, an act declaring that-these measures would produce 
consequences, that may ))e properly and lawfully repressed by 
retaliation, and proceed to enact: 

Section 4. That every white person, being a connnissioned 
officer, or acting as such, who, daring the present war, shall com- 
mand negroes or mulattos in arms against the Confederate States, 
or who shall arjii, train, organize or prepare negroes or mulattos for 
military service against the Confederate States, or who shall vol- 
untarilv aid neorroes or mulattos in any military enterprise, attack 



— 10 — 

or conllict, iii such sorvicc, .shall be deemed as inciting servile in- 
suirection, and shall, if captured, be put to death, or be otherwise 
punished at the discretion of the court. 

Section 7. All negroes and mulattos who shall be engaged 
in war, or be taken in arms against the Confederate States, or 
shall give aid or comfort to the enemies of the Confederate States, 
shall, when caj^tured in the Confederate States, be delivered to the 
authorities of the State or States in which they shall be captured, 
to 1)0 dealt with according to the present or future laws of such 
State or States. (Approved May 1, 1863.) 

May 22, 1863, the War Department of the United States es- 
tablished a Bureau in the Adjutant General's otfice for the record 
of all matters relating to the organization of colored troops, exam- 
ining Boards were })rovided for by whom every person was exam- 
ined rigorously as to physical, mental and moral litness to com- 
mand troops, and the grade of commission for which each person 
so examined is tit, to be speciiied by the Board, Commissions to 
be issued from the Adjutant GeneraPs office, when the, prescribed 
numb'fer of men is ready to nuister into the service. Appoint- 
ment warrants were given, but no Commissit)ns proper, wore ever 
issued to officers of colored troops, that I am aware of, except 
commissions for brevet a})})ointments, thus disregarding an ex- 
press provision of the law. 

Slight as had 1:)een the recognition of these troops up to this 
time the only other authorization for their enlistment, is found in 
the Act of Congress, a))[)roved February 24, 1864, which is the 
Draft Act. 

1 quote in full the only section which the Congress of the 
United States saw tit to enact in respect to enrolling a class from 
which 186,097 men were enlisted during the war. 

Section 24. And ht it farther enacted^ That all able-bodied 
mah; colored persons })otween the ages of twenty and forty-five 
years, resident in the United States, shall ])o enrolled according 
to the provisions of this act, and of the act to which this is an 
amendment, and form part of the rational forces ; and when 
a slave of a loyal master shall be drafted and mustered into the 
service of the United States, his master shall have a certificate 
thereof ; and thereupon such slave be free, and the bounty of one 
hundred dollars, now })aya])le b\' law for each drafted man, shall 



— 11 — 

be paid to the person to whom such drafted person was owing 
service or lal)or at the time of his muster into the service of the 
United States. The Secretar}^ of War shall appoint a commission 
in each of the slave States represented in Congress, charged to 
award to each loyal person to whom a colored volunteer ma}^ owe 
service a just compensation, not exceeding three hundred dollars, 
for each such colored volunteer, payal)le out of the fund derived 
from conniiutations ; and every such colored volunteer on Ijeing 
mustered into the service shall he free. And in all cases where 
men of color have been heretofore enlisted, or have volunteered 
in the military service of the United States, all the provisions of 
this act, so far as the payment of bounty and compensation are 
provided, shall l)e equally applicable as to those who may l)e here- 
after I'ecruited. But men of color, drafted or enlisted, or who 
may volunteer into the military service, while they shall 1)e cred- 
ited on the quotas of the several States or sul)di visions of States 
wherein they are respectively drafted, enlisted, or shall \ olunteer, 
shall not be assigned as State troops, but shall be mustered into 
regiments or companies as Ihiited States colored troops. 

Some states, Kansas for one, others ))oth North, and in the "oor- 
der and southern slave States 1)y direction of connnanding Gener- 
als, had organized regiments l)efore the })assage of said act, which 
were subsequently designated United States Colored Troops. 

xlmong many of the most gallant and distinguished officers, 
of the army, there was a ver}^ strong prejudice against the em- 
ployment of colored soldiers. A stall' officer of high rank said to 
me, "Hall you know that we do not want anv 'nigger soldiers' 
in the army of the Potomac, but if any ever do come, I hope your 
conmiand will be first." Singularly enough my regiment was the 
lirst to come in line with the corps in which my friend served. 
A very distinguished General on whom I called to say goodl)ye, said 
"I am sorry to have you leave my connnand,au(l still more sorry that 
vou are going to serve with negroes, I think it a disgrace to the 
army to mtdve soldiers of them." I replied ''that it appeared to 
me that good lighters were needed, and that such ^vould not dis- 
o-race the service, whatever their color." His objection, he said, 
was "not to their color, but that he did not believe they would 
lio-ht." He was ver}^ complimentary to myself, and subse(][uently 
wrote to me, "I was sorrv to lose vou for a command of colored 



— 12 — 

troops, ;is I have never believed thut to be the best disposition to 
make of the Africans, whom I have always thouo;ht,and still believe, 
could be made more useful to the cause than by putting a musket 
in their hands, yet as such has been the decision of the authorities, 
I have yielded to it, without changing however, one jot of my 
former judgment.''' 

These instances are a fair example of the sentiment prevail- 
ing, and the prejudice against the employment of colored troops, 
rendered the position of an officer of such troops not altogether 
pleasant, and the threats of retaliation made in the act of the rebel 
congress cited, may well have caused, as they did, myself and 
others careful consideration. But the fact that a great principle 
was involved, caused many brave and patriotic officers and men to 
vacate high and honorable positions, won by long and gallant ser- 
vice, counting it an honor to lead the black heroes, that they might 
aid in their own enfranchisement. 

On General Upton's return, March 27, I set out to comply 
with this ordor. '"Aljiit i it GeisiMPr; O.tije, Washington, March 
19, 1864. Sir : I forward herewith your appointment of Lieutenant 
Colonel in the Forty-Third Regiment U. S. Colored Troops. You 
will report in person for duty to the Commanding Officer, ('amp 
Wm. Penn, near Philadelphia, P.i. I am Sir very respectfully 
your obedient servant, A. F. Rockwell, Assistant Adjutant Gen- 
eral. To Lieutenant Colonel H. Seymour Hall, l-8rd L. S. C. T." 
It is worthy of note that at this time, (May 1894,) Colonel 
Rockwell is the only surviving officer who was ))resent at the 
death beds of both Presidents Lincoln and Gartield. 

By special permission granted me in person by Secretary 
Stanton, who gave me hearing while many others who had pre- 
ceded me waited, I was granted two days to close up ni}^ old ac- 
counts, which gave me an opportunity to accept the invitation of 
my friend and former staff com]ianion. Colonial W. W. Winthrop, 
to dine, and at that dinner 1 had the pleasure of meeting General 
A. V. Kautz, who was then the caterer for the mess, the officers 
composing which, rented a house, and catered in turn. General 
Rol)ert Williams and General George D. Ruggles, were hoth 
among the members who were present at the dinner. My busi- 
ness concluded in Washington, I reported for duty to General 
Louis Wagner at Camp Wm. Penn on the 2nd of April. 



— 13 — 

By the 18th there were six full companies, and in compliance 
vith orders from the War Department, I moved with them to An- 
lapolis, Maryland, and reported in person to General A. E. Burn- 
ide for duty with the Ninth Corps. From Annapolis we march- 
sd Ijy way of Annapolis Junction and Bladensburg to Washing- 
on, where on the 25th we were reviewed by President Lincoln 
rom the balcony of Willard's Hotel, as we marched down the 
;treet to cross Long Bridge into Virginia. My regiment was the 
^ery last in the corps, the constant battalion drill that I had given 
hem the four weeks that I had been in command, and their excel- 
ence in the manual of arms, made them appear like veteran sol- 
liers, and the crowd of spectators gave us loud and prolonged 
ipplause, so unusual in Washington that the Chronicle called 
special attention to us the next morning. 

Once more on Virginia soil, for the tifth time I passed over 
he familiar ground from Alexandria to the battle held of Bull 
Llun, thence to Bristow on the 30th, through Catlett's to Germania 
ford, crossed the Rapidan on the 6th of May, and my command 
vas placed on the extreme right of the Army of the Potomac, 
jonnecting with the Sixth Corps, and in front of the hospital of 
;he old tirst Division, in which I am proud to have served so long. 
A.t three next morning finding that the army had moved and left 
lie alone, I called in my outposts in person, meeting a squadron 
3f cavalry on my return to my reserve, the commanding officer 
3f which said he had orders to tire on any body of troops ap- 
proaching from the direction in which I was returning with my 
s^idettes. My caution and prompt challenge prevented this, and 
[ detailed him as rear guard on our march along the plank road 
till we joined the main body after daylight. 

Near Chancellorsville we tirst encountered the veteran white 
soldiers of the Sixth corps, and Generals Sedgwick and Wright, 
were the first to give me a cordial greeting, and express their ap- 
probation of the appearance of the first colored troops they had 
ever seen. Across the road was General David A. Russell, who 
as soon as he recognized me, came up almost at a run to greet 
me with a warm grasp of his hand. We stacked arms and rested 
not far beyond, where my old friends Generals McMahon and 
Whittier of General Sedgwick's staff came over to welcome me, 
and express their surprise at the good appearance of the black 



— 14 — 

soldiers, who, a few w^eeks before, were not wanted in the Army 
of the Potomac. This was on the 7th of May. 

Having- on the 19th of April been assigned to the Fourth 
division Ninth Army Corps, commanded by General Ed- 
ward Ferrero, the Tth day of May I reported to Colonel Joshua 
K. Sigfried, 47th Pa. Vols., who was in command of First l)ri- 
gade, to which we were assigned 1)y verbal orders, and took posi- 
tion on the right of the army at the forks of the road from Chan- 
collorsville to U. S. and Ely's fords. From this time till we 
crossed the James river the su})ply and ammunition trains were the 
especial care of our division, and we were too of the Army of the 
Potomac. At Wilderness May Btli and 7th ; Spottsylvania May 
Sth to 18th, on our right near Salem church, repulsed an attempt 
on our trains the 12th ; Chancellorsville the 13th ; Silver's farm 
the 14th ; Salem church and Fredericks! )urg road the 1.5th to 18th; 
Giiinney's Station May 22nd ; Milford the 23rd ; North Anna 
23rd to 27th ; at Wright's tavern on the 2.5th to 28th ; then to 
Milford ; Totopotomy the 29th ; Dunkirk the 30th ; near Han- 
over Court House the 31st ; Cold Harbor Juno 1st to 12th. Other 
troops were ordered to report to me, giving me command of a ])ri- 
gade for detached ser\ ice, and we went out to the front passing 
the birthplace of Edmund Riffin, who lirod the tirst gun on Fort 
Sumter, and conmiitted suicide when the rebellion was (n-ushed, one 
)nile beyond this old roomy plantation house I established my line, 
fortified it well, the house of Mrs. Peyte, being a,l)out half a mile 
outside, which position we held through the most desperate battles 
at Cold Har])or ; then took up position at Old Church Tavern mid- 
way l)etween White House and Mechanic>ville,13 miles from each ; 
moved to White House June 12th ; to Kent Court House the 13th ; 
toward Williamsburg as far as SlatersN'ille the 14th ; and to Wind- 
sor (or Window) Shades on the Chickahominy, the 18th where we 
crossed to make our final trial of the James river. 

After midnight of the 17th, everything else having crossed the 
river, the bridges had all lieen taken up, my regiment was the last 
body of troops to cross from the north l)ank of the James, which 
we did on a New York steam ftu-ry boat, and debarking on 
the other side, marched to near City Point, where we joined the 
Ninth Corps, of which we had l)een nominally a division, but were 
detached the entire time since May 8th, and received our orders di- 



— 15 — 

rect from General Grant, who complimented us for the repulses 
that we had given the enemy, and after the Ninth Corps was made 
a part of the Army of the Potomac, we received our orders direct 
from General Meade till we joined the corps after crossing the 
James river. 

During this time the Army of which we were a part, fought 
some of the most desperate and bloody Ijattles of the war, and in 
the six weeks since the opening of the campaign tif ty-tive thousand 
men had Ijeen lost by it in the casualties of battle ; six thousand 
men more than one half of the number present for duty equipped 
when the campaign was entered upon. 

The loss of the enemy is only given in part, and as we were 
generally the attacking party, and they were behind strong for- 
titications, their loss was probably considerably less, but only 
24,100 are reported. 

Failing to capture Petersburg by rapidity of movement, its 
seige was undertaken, in which we participated, both as builders 
and defenders of our fortifications till the 5th of July, when I 
went with our Ijrigade commander, under the guidance of General 
J. F. Hartranft, the General Officer of the trenches, to examine 
the ground in our front under which a mine was projected, that it 
would be familiar to me in the assault whith was to be made when 
our mine had l)een extended under the enemy's works and exploded 
as contemplated. 

Soon after this, my regiment then consisting of seven com- 
panies, was honored by being selected to lead the assaulting col- 
umn, and I am able to sulistantiate that declaration, by quoting 
from a letter from my brigade commander, in answer to my in- 
quiry if there was a written order for me to lead with my regi- 
ment, and he also states why the 1:3rd was given the dangerous 
post of honor. He says "There was no order from Corps head- 
quarters as to any specific regiment taking the lead and no writ- 
ten order as to which of the two brigades was to take the lead, but 
it was a verbal order from Burnside to General Ferrero, command- 
ing the l:th Division, that my brigade was to lead. I gave you 
the order to take the lead of the brigade, for while I do not wish 
to disparage either of the other Colonels or their regiments, I knew 
that I could rely on you in any emergency. You had full control 
of all your men, the discipline in your regiment was high up, your 



— 16 — 

officers and men bad implicit confidence in you as their Colonel." 
The work that was expected of me was fully explained, and 
to do as ordered, my command was to take position, just before 
the mine was to be fired, as near our front line as possible, in 
double column by division closed in mass, at the head of the divi- 
sion, and when the mine exploded was to move quickly forward, 
pass throu2:h the breach in the enemy's works made by the explo- 
sion, then turn to our right Ijchind his works, take him in the 
flank and roll up his line with the bayonet, by taking Jialf distance, 
rigid comjxmieH right into line icheel, left companies on the right 
into line and from the time of my assignment to the day before 
the assault, I practised these movements till they could have been 
executed as perfectly in the dark as in the light, and the flank be- 
ing cleared of the enemy by my bayonets, the entire army could 
advance through the interval, to the crest two or three hundred 
yards beyond, when Petersburg through which one of the rail- 
roads largely supplying Richmond ran, and that portion of Gen- 
eral Lee's army on our right, lietween us and the Appomattox 
• river, would have been at our mercy. The evening of July 29th, 
our division moved down to the left of the entrance to the covered 
way leading out to our most advanced line in front of the mined 
salient of the enemy, and with my regiment in advance, formed 
double column closed in mass in readiness to lead the assault. No 
hint of change of plans had reached me and General Ferrero does 
not state when he was first informed of it, but he writes me that 
he had been absent in Washington, hence was not present at the 
conference between Generals Grant, Meade, Burnside and the oth- 
er three division commanders of the Ninth Corps when the change 
of plans was discussed and agreed upon, and probably did not 
know of the change, as he writes me that he returned barely in 
time to take command for the action after we were in place for 
assault as first j)lanned. The commander of our other brigade, 
says that he was not informed of any change till near midnight 
of July 29th, and as his line officers were apparently in quiet 
sleep, they were not aroused to lie informed of what would do 
them no service. I did not know of any change till the morning 
of July 30, when our brigade commander, accompanied by two or 
three of his staff, came to me and in person gave me this order: 
"Be ready to advance when I order you forward, with muskets 



— 17 — 

lotidetl, but not capped, bayonets fixed, and when the order is giv- 
en, move your regiment by the flank, through the covered way 
over our outer works, directly to, and througli the breach made 
})y the mine, form line beyond, and strike for the cemetery." I 
ordered the regiment to "load," "fix bayonets," and while waiting 
for the order to advance. Lieutenant A. A. Shedd, of our brigade 
commander's statt', came to me and gave again the orders that his 
chief had already given me, and with an unusual care, knowing 
that the Forty-Third was leading the division, called my attention 
to them liy a second repetition of them before he left me. He 
states that he went with General Sigfried into the crater, and was 
sent out several times by him with orders to the brigade. 

We entered the covered way, moved part way through it, 
when our progress was delayed for quite a time by white troops 
tilling up the passage in front of me. About half past seven 
o'clock, General Sigfried ordered me to move past the troops of 
Humphrey's brigade. He wrote later to the Philadelphia Press 
that he called up Colonel Hall, and that I might know whereto go, 
pointed out the direction that I was to lead my regiment as the 
leading regiment of the division, to jn-event the accident of getting 
led in the wrong direction. With considerable difliculty, I crowd- 
ed my regiment along, passing by those troops of Humphrey's 
tjrigade, to our outer line, where I saw General Ferrero, our Di- 
vision commander, with his stall', to whom he said, "Here comes 
the Forty-Third, let's give them three cheers", took otf his hat, 
waved it above his head, and led in the cheering. I call attention 
to this as this was his position while his division went out over our 
outer intrenchments, and he knows exactly which regiment was 
first to go forward, and saw every regiment of his division as 
each went over our works, saw here the numl>er of prisoners sent 
in by the Forty-Third, and it was at this point that the colors cap- 
tured by that regiment were delivered to him, in spite of the ef- 
fort made by one of the conunanders of another regiment to take 
them from their captor. No preparation had been made to facili- 
tate our passing our line, and my men climbed out over the em 
bankment, which was nearly as high as their heads, with difliculty, 
and the delay caused thereby, elongated the column, and the effort 
to close up between our line and the crater, impaired the momen- 
tum. 



— IS — 

My adjutant, afterwards Captain James O'Brien, was with mo 
at the right of the reo;iment, and at the double quick, under a 
most deadly cross fire of artillery and musketry, I led the regi- 
ment up the slope directly to the plainly visible mass of earth and 
deln-is, thrown out of the crater l)y the explosion of the mine, 
some of which covered the abbatis and facilitated the passage of 
my connnand as well as of almost the t hree divisions of white 
troops of the Ninth Corps that had preceeded me, they accomp- 
lishing nothing, l)ut crowding into the crater for shelter from the 
shot and shell of the enemy, who had now reoccupied their origin- 
al line on l>{)th flanks of the crater, pouring their fire into it, mak- 
ing it a trap in which to hold our helpless men and destroy them 
at leisure. As soon as I reached and mounted the rim of the cra- 
ter, I saw all this, reali-^ed that to pass through the crater as or- 
dered would be impossible, the attempt to do so would render my 
conunand as helpless as the others, and add to the horrors of their 
situation. To our right of the crater th3 ensmy held their line 
fully manned, those of them nearest the crater, directing their fire 
on the troops within. The impenetrable a])l)atis was behind a line 
of chevaux de friese fastened together with strong wires, 
rendering an assault on their front hopeless, l)ut from my position 
on the crest of the crater's rim I saw ;i narrow space at the foot of 
the outer slope of their intrenchments, beyond which their abbati-j 
was staked down, and determined to lead my regiment that way, 
carry that ])art of their line, thereby op3a a gateway to tha near- 
est and best route to the cemetery, which was the desired point of 
vantage. 

Ordering my adjutant to remain at the crater, to close up the 
companies and direct them after me, I led the head of the regi- 
ment to our right, still at a dou1)le quick, along the foot of the en- 
emy's intrenchments, so close that some of my officers and men 
were w^ounded by the Ixiyonets, others burned by the powder 
flames of the foe, and when the left of my regiment had cleared 
the right of the crater sufficiently, commanded: "By tiik lkvt 
FLANK, March." As we faced the enemy, I gave the command: 
"Charge." In that instant, with resistless valor, officers and 
men threw themselves over his works upon the enemy, using sa- 
ber, pistol and l)ayonet with the most t(^rrif)le deadly effect, the 
men killed numbers of the enemy in si)ite of the efforts of their 



— 19 — 

otiicers to restrain them, and we took prisoners in those intrench- 
nients 200 South Carolina soldiers, and with them their colors, 
and retook from them a stand of National Colors that they had 
that mornino- captured from a reg-iment of w^hite troops. These 
were tlie only colors or prisoners captured by any regiment of our 
(Hvision that day, as no others are reported by our brigade com- 
mander, nor l)y the commander of the other Ijrigade of our divis- 
ion. After a short time taken to send these to the rear, as was 
acknowledged by our division cjmmtnider, I planted my colors 
and reformed my rejjiinont iaside the captured entrenchments, fac- 
ing the ridge and cemetery, intending to lead to, carry and hold 
that objective position, though my command had just lost nearly 
one half its num])er in killed and wounded. The fire directed up- 
on us at this moment, and to which we were entirely exposed, was 
terril)le, and as I stood ui)on the crest of the parapet, to examine 
and select the route over which to charge to the ridge in front with 
my command, a musket Itall from the enemy went through the 
bone of my right arm, near my shoulder, and turning over the 
command of the regiment to the relial)le and gallant (^aptain Wil- 
kinson, securing ni\' sal)er, which had fallen from my hand, was 
soon assisted from the Held. 

It is stated t)y both (xoneraU Meade and Humphreys, that the 
total number of prisoners captured l)y the army of the Potomac 
that day was 246. The Forty-Third Regiment U. S. Colored 
Troops, is entitled to be credited with the capture of two hun- 
dred of them, and with one stand of colors of the two reported 
by General Meade, Ijesides the recapture of one stand of National 
Colors, all achieved as the result of my leading the regiment to 
the right and charging the enemy in his intrenchments contrary 
to the instructions of my brigade commander, and in direct viola- 
tion of orders given him, a fact of which I had no knowledge at 
the time. 

The great loss of blood and my shattered and useless right 
arm, made me sutfer from pain and weakness, and a stalwart sol- 
dier supporting me with his arm, held my handkerchief twisted 
around above the wound as we returned by the same route over 
which we had charged. Near the crater, between the enemy's 
line and our own, I saw at this time, the Colonel whom Captain 
Wright and other officers charge with attempting to deprive the 



— 20 — 

Captain of the reljel stand of colors, which he captured in hiv>^ 
charge with his reo-iment, the Forty-Third. 

Here also I saw the other troops of Si2:frie(rs ])rio;ude, which 
was my tirst sight of an}- of them since my advance with the For- 
ty-Third to the assault, and I call })articular attention to the fact 
that General Sigfried says in his ofHcial report, that the balance 
of his brigade was halted at this place al)out an hour, and that it 
was impossible to advance them to the works carried and held by 
the Forty-Third regiment, United States Colored Troops. 

These regiments of the brigade to which we belonged lost their 
connection with mine ))y reason of Humphrey's men closing in, 
after mine had forced their way to his front, so that I had no sup- 
port or assistance whatever, in the operations that have })een de- 
scril^ed, and which constituted the chief successes of the day. Af- 
ter my charge had cleared the enemy from the right of the mine, 
a large num))er of the troops of the other divisions of the Ninth 
Corps came out of the crater and took position on my left, so that 
when the balance of our own division came up they could not get 
forward to the advanced position which we had carried and now 
occupied. Having a long ago written account of the facts, when 
the}^ wer(; fresh in mind, it is a satisfaction to find so perfect a con- 
iirmation as there is in the Official Records, and in the reports of 
my officers neither of which had been seen by me till recently, and 
a few of them are cited. General J. K. Sig^fried, thou Colonel of 
the 48th Pa. Vols., commanding our brigade ; on 81st of July, 
1864, next day after the battle, when everything was fresh in his 
mind, made his official report from which I have cited. It says 
also that his l)rigade moving down the covered way was stopped 
by the halting of Humphrev's 'Drigade some time, he moved his 
troops J>y IlniiipJireyx at a flank as directed. TheCt)lonel who at- 
tempted to wrest the re])el colors that Captain ^^'right liad cap- 
tured from the enemy, from Wriglit, writes me that \ic follouied 
Humphrey's l>rigade. 

My regiment being in the lead of our l)riga(le, did "move by 
that brigade at a flank," on over our outer works, to the crater, 
then, as I have related, and as Genc^'al Sigfried says, ''The Forty- 
Third regiment U. 8. Colored Troops moved o\ er the crest of the 
crater toward the right, charged the enem3^'s intrenchments and 
took them, capturing a nundier of [)risoners, a rel)el stand of col- 



— 21 — 

ors, and recapturing a stand of National colors. This line was 
part of the continuous line connecting with the crater. The bal- 
ance of my brigade was prevented from advancing into this line 
by the numl^er of troops of the First, Second and Third divisions 
in front of them.'' As I have stated, these troops of those three 
di^■isions came out of the crater, and formed on the left and rear 
of my regiment, after our charge had routed the enemy, before 
the other colored regiments of our division had reached the crater. 
Continuing his report, Sigfried further says, the balance of his 
brigade was halted by the rebel line of intrenchments, which was 
tilled with the troops of the First, Second and Third divisions ; 
behind this line it formed in good order. Here it was very much 
exposed for at least an hour, and owing to the crowded lines of 
troops of the stated divisions immediately in front it was impossi- 
ble to get my brigade on, (to where the 43rd was advanced). 
Just as the troops in front were about to make a charge, a white 
color-bearer with his colors, crossed the works in retreat. 

My ))rigade held its position, until pushed back by the mass 
of troops, black and white who rushed back upon it, and until the 
enemy occupied the works to its left and front when it fell back 
to the line where it originally started from. In this same report 
General Sigfried further says ""Lieutenant Colonel H. Seymour 
Hall, commanding Forty -Third Regiment, U. S. Colored Troops, 
lost his right arm bravely leading his regiment. His adjutant. 
First Lieutenant James O'Brien, deserves honorable mention, hav- 
ing displayed the most heroic courage and daring, standing on the 
summit of the crater cheering the men on amidst a terrific lire of 
shot and shell. He received a severe wound through the breast. 
Captain A. D. Wright, Forty-Third, in charging the rebel line 
with his men, ))ersonally captured a stand of rebel colors and five 
prisoners, bringing all safely to the rear, although receiving a 
wound through the right arm. I regret that it was not possible 
for me to see every officer and man, well enough to describe the 
gallant conduct of each, for they were heroes every one, and those 
who passed unnoticed through that fiery trial, won imperishable 
fame could their deeds be known. I have made efforts to perfect 
the record of their achievements, and will supply what is possible, 
which is very little, in a brief summary of the evidence that I have 
been able to obtain. Adjutant O'Brien was carrying out my or- 



22 

ders to close up and direct the regiment to follow me when he so 
conspicuoiTsly displayed his gallantry spoken of by the brigade 
commander. He mounted an elevated mass of debris, and with 
voice and sword sent them after to charge with us in front, while 
himself was a shining mark for the bullets of the enemy. He la- 
ter received a shot through the left breast, that went entirely 
through his liody, a frightful wound, from which he never fully 
recovered, and which dou])tless hastened his death some fifteen 
years since in San Francisco. Before he came to my regiment he 
had served in the 61st N. Y. Vols., when General N. A. Miles, U. 
S. Army, was its Colonel. While he was still in the hospital, he 
was at my request promoted to Captain, and ordered by the War . 
Depai'tment to report to me at Camp Casey, Washington, D. C, 
for duty as Adjutant of that Post, rejoined the regiment with me 
in March, 1865, in front of Richmond, entered that city with the 
command on the 3rd of April, served with it in Texas till its mus- 
ter out of service. 

In giving brief mention of the gallant company officers, I shall 
follow the order of companies from right to left. Following my 
adjutant and myself, came my senior Captain, Jesse Wilkinson, 
a most brave and reliable officer, who says, "We went over our 
works by the flank to the crater. Colonel Hall called my attention 
to a stand of rebel colors, on the rebel works al)out fifty yards to 
our right, and ordered me to move in that direction. We passed 
down along the rebel works, within reach of their bayonets, their 
shots carrying otf one boot heel, my sword scabbard, and some 
of my hair, some going through my hat. In getting over their 
works with my company, I received a slight bayonet wound in the 
neck and left arm. Six or eight men in one group surrendered 
to me, and another squad, one with a white towel on his bayonet 
gave themselves up, and I at once sent them all to the rear. Cap- 
tain Wright went over the works in rear of my company, and got 
one of the flags. I then went to the angle of the works, opposite 
the woods to try to cut off a cross fire, and cleared the angle. 

Ijieutenant Hayman was killed, Lieutenant James Scully 
wounded in the leg and lamed for life, a squad of rebel prisoners 
carried him to our lines. While in the rebel works, I was inform- 
ed that our Colonel had been shot and notified to form the regi- 
ment, for a charge on the Cemetery ridge, with General Thomas' 



— 23 — 

brigjule, which would form on my left, and to guide on his col- 
ors, we had advanced l)ut a few steps in a rather broken line, 
when the rebels poured over the hill from a ravine in our front, 
in solid column, tiring with deliberate aim ; advancing to within 
a few feet of us, the}^ started on a double quick, with a yell, in 
such numbers as to drive us back to the trenches, where standing 
on the works above us, they clubbed their muskets, and eventu- 
all}'^ drove us out of the works the Forty-Third had captured, back 
to our own works. They being on higher ground, their constant 
tire kept us under cover, and they directed their fire on the help- 
less wounded between the lines who showed any signs of life. On 
the morning of August 2nd, a truce was had, and with a detail of 
3U0 men I ])articipated in the burial of the dead."" 

Lieutenant James Scully, who bravely led his company, after 
Lieutenant James T. Hayman was killed, and Captain Wilkinson 
had a higher command, relates that we w^ere at the extreme right 
of the lu'igade, he heard the order to advance, and that we went 
with alacrity directly to the crater, '''where huddled the remnants 
of the forces that preceded us. We at once changed direction to 
the right, along the foot of the enemy's front line, which we charg- 
ed headlong upon, capturing a number of prisoners. Lieutenant 
Hayman was killed. Lieutenant Scully had his sword broken in 
his hand, and some tiine after, while in the works w^as shot through 
the right leg. While trying to get to the rear, I saw Colonel 
Hall who had just been shot through the right arm, but could 
give him no assistance. I was taken to our lines by a party of 
rel)el prisoners." 

Company E followed A, Lieutenants George R. Williams and 
Sherman P. Hand of that company in most gallantly endeavoring 
to hold the right of our line against the tlank attack, were over- 
whelmed and made prisoners Ijy the enemy. After enduring in- 
describal)le horrors. Lieutenant Williams escaped from prison, re- 
joined his regiment after a long series of thrilling adventures and 
marvelous escapes. Unfortunately his story was not obtained in 
his lifetime and cannot now be told here. He w^as a most gallant 
and accomplished officer, whose career of honorable service was 
terminated l)y his resignation after the surrender of General Lee. 

Lieutenant Hand had a most horrible experience, the details 
of which are so historically valuable, and so intensely interesting 



— 24 — 

that they ouo;ht to be pnplished to the world. In the limits of 
this paper the bare outline can scarcely be given. 

In the report of Lieutenant Hand, he states, "I well remem- 
))er the oallantry of Colonel Hall in the fatal charge he led at the 
'Mine explosion.' Our direction in the charge he ordered, was 
somewhat diagonal, and toward our right, along the rebel breast- 
works, at the double quick, till he earnestly and distinctly gave us 
the order to charge by the left Hank, at which we carried the line 
of rebel intrenchments, which we held till I was captured, I should 
think about 11 or 12 o'clock. This position was about 200 to 250 
yards to our right of the Mine, and was the extreme right of our 
line of battle. The last I saw of our Colonel, he was being assisted 
to the rear in consequence of wounds which incapacitated him from 
doing more." "Nothing impeded our advance but the missiles 
from the enemy's line until we reached the line of their intrench- 
ments, where a large percentage of our men fell in less time than 
it takes to tell it. Finally the graybacks broke in upon us finish- 
ing or capturing the few left. I was pinned to earth by a bayo- 
net wound through the arms and ribs. My assailant withdrew his 
steel and rai.sed his arms to strike, Avhen an officer by his side an- 
grily cried out, "Unbuckle that ])elt and give up your sword, if 
you don't want to die." I obeyed with alacrity, and was boosted 
over the parapet, made my way painfully to the rebel rear, where 
I found Lieutenant Williams and many other prisoners both 
black and white. The officers were at once put under guard, and 
about 10 o'clock the next morning, were formed in double file, 
two officers between four 'niggers,' and marched through the 
principal streets of Petersburg, much after the style of a circus." 

The people gazed at us as curiosities, and we were greeted 
with insults and sneers all along the route, and greeted with cries 
of 'See the white and nigger equality soldiers.' 'How do you like 
it Yanks?' 'Yanks and niggers sleep in the same bed, etc., etc' 
We were paraded thus for two hours and more. The colored sol- 
diers, were confronted with the officers drawn up in line, to have 
them point out their officers for disgrace, but not a lisp, or hint 
as to identity was given. Their mouths were sealed in honor and 
fidelity to their friends. After being starved for three days, we 
were huddled into rickety box cars and started south, the only 
thing Williams and I had to eat in the meantime, being a loaf of 



— 25 — 

sour l^read, half the usual size, for which we paid a greenback 
dollar, those who had no money not getting even that. From 
Danville to Columbia S. C, where his quarters, like all others 
were in Richland jail no distinction being made between the offi- 
cers of colored and white troops. From this jail Lieutenant Wil- 
liams made his escape. His friend and companion Lieutenant 
Hand , being too weak from liis wounds, lack of food and medical 
treatment to accompany him, drained the l)itter cu}) of his prison 
life to the end. As cold weathei of Decem])er set in he was trans- 
ferred to the A.sylum yard, wtnmded, sick, starving, nearly naked, 
ahiiost dying, with nt) shelter l)ut the cold pitiless sky, no food 
but coarse corn meal, ground col) and all, this without salt, or ves- 
sel to cook it in. That he survived theunspeakal)le horrors, priva- 
tions, and sutferings of that winter is most wonderful. But he 
says thei'e were scmie slight gleams of hope even in the darkest 
days, and that one of his comrades in this place of horrors, Lieu- 
tenant S. M, H. Byers, wrote both the words and music of 'Sher- 
man's March to the Sea,' at the time that l)oth were enduring the 
miseries of the frightful place. He was hastily removed from 
CoUim1)ia to Charlotte, a few days ])efore General Sherman's army 
occupied the former city, was paroled in a few days, and tinally 
rejoined his regiment at City Point, Va. The writer has urged 
iiim to publish his wonderfully interesting experience in full. 

Next came Company C, my color company. Lieutenant W. 
F. Silverwood in connnand. Lieutenant Daniel J. Hogan also serv- 
ing with that company. Lieutenant Silverwood was so severely 
wounded in defense of the colors, a most heroically gallant deed, 
lliat he was never able to return to duty with the regiment. His 
opinion diti'ers sojiiewhat from that of all the other, and more ex- 
perienced officers of the connnand, and he thinks there were two 
or three other regiments in front of ours, and that they stopped 
at the crater, but he is positive that no other charged to the right 
except the 48rd. He says, just as he reached the right of his com- 
pany. Colonel Hall gave the command, 'right face, charge,' or 'by 
the rear rank, charge.' 'T forced my way through my men, and 
took a course to strike the line of w^orks at the angle to our right 
l)y those trees. The tirini>- was so heavy that I sat down in an out 
})icket post. The coh^rs and some men gathered around me, a doz- 
en muskets were shoved over the breastworks by the enemyand tired. 



26 — 



«om my fl.ink.s. I ordered the colors to the reir Mnd tent tl>„ 
ene„>y ,„ check with my sm„|dn. revolver I ^ i,it . T ' 
over the works, my sword knocT- J tv V , '"* ^ **l'™"g 

part of a third cut'oli' ef st T l ," ', Z^T' '""n"'^' ™' 
..++ ^ 1 . (3i»^n-. i vvaiKoa hack to a small rqvino 

■^ttemp ed o stop and orjrunize my men, l,„t when I'e'rt!; 

A-fit uibiicuu at tiiat time wa^ with (^ i-u ^ i 
,«..veth.the.rd,h.d;e:St^,:::^;t^-:-^ 

could reach „s with their „u,skets,. and C^aptains Wilkinson a, 1 
Bnn™ were wounded by rebel bayonet. We .ot the on e. 
charge from the Colonel, dashe,l „p„n the enen,,''^ works ca^ie 
them, oaptur nj prisoners and ,.nl„,.. ti ' ""^i»; can led 

o-allant -Ks-inlt Tf °""*''"" ''"'o'^- The enemy resisted the 

Car.' d„ Wr hf "".'■ '■'!"""'" ""''' "" '"■'^' determined courao-e. 

Captam Wr.glit captured a rebel color, an,l Lieutenant Armstron<r 

ecaptured a National Color. The enemy In-oujht up fres troops 

t.equently turnmg to exchan.ire shots with the enemy, who, 
I gave a few shots from my heavy Colt's Navy pistol 

War^r'Ti 'T '""T^,"'"'" ""■''' ^'"l"'"" «""■ ='"<' Lieutenant 
e!^r M the r . ^^''™'-»'"''<l -I'o-ed great coolness and brav- 

ery, had the regimental colors saved, an.l as he stepped upon our 

e( . Othei woun.led officers were Cohmel Hall, Caiitain Wrio-ht 
Lieutenants Steele and O'Brien. Lieutenants Wihiim.: ' m 'iSti 
we,e aken prisoners, an<l Lieutenant Jan.esT. Hayman killed." 

l.nt '^ ""i^ '"■'™'' '° ''"™ '■<'P°rt'' *'■"'" the two most .val- 
iant and efficient officers who that eventfull day served with the 



— 27 — 

company next on the left of the colors, Company F, was comman- 
ded l)y its l)ra\e Captain, Horace F. Burr, and from his clear and 
concise report it is stated that ''The officers were called together, 
l)y the Colonel, and advised of the work in hand, just before the 
43rd advanced to the assault. It was the leading- regiment of the 
-1-th Division, and we went forward at the dou]>le cjuick, by the 
right flank, company A leading, Colonel Hall at the head of the 
Regiment. 

We were under a hot tire as we left our lines and our 
men liegan to fall as we moved direct to the crater, which was lit- 
(H-ally })acked with white troops who had preceded us. The 43rd 
l)ushed on to our right, still by the right flank, along the enemy's 
front works, under a hot fire, at close quarters, till the regiment 
was fairly clear of the crater, and ]>eyond, when Colonel Hall gave 
the order to march ])y the left flank, and charge. He was at the 
center and in front of the regiment, as he gave the command, and 
led in the execution. Adjutant O'Brien was near ^him and as we 
faced to the left, I saw the Adjutant spring forward, then drop. 
Our regiment went over the works at the command, so quickly 
that a great number of the enemy were unable to escape, and we 
cai)tured certiiinly not less than one hundred. One squad of about 
ten gave up their arms to me, and I saw groups of them scattered 
along the regiment and going to our rear. The Colonel next re- 
formed the regiment, in the intrenchments we had captured, some 
250 yards or more to our right of the crater, and there were none 
of our troops in front or to the right of our regiment in those 
lines that day. I am very sure that the right of the 43rd might 
have shaken hands with the rel)s in tha work-^ beyond, had the 
proper frame of mind existed on both sides. Word was soon 
l^assed along that the Colonel was wounded and taken to the rear, 
his final order being for the regiment to keep steady. We were 
in those works an hour or more, exposed to a destri ctive fire of 
artillery from our right, and a most spitefull and galling fusilade 
of musketry on our front and flanks. The line was first broken 
on the left of our i)osition, and it was there the retreat commenc- 
ed, our falling back not being all at once, but successively as our 
flank was uncovered. I am positive that the 43rd was the first to 
occupy the rebel lines to our right of the crater, and equally sure 
that it was the last to leave them." After reading it, he writes: 



— 28 — 

"The ColoneFs letter published in the Century Company's War 
Book 'Battles and Leaders of the Civil War', is admirable, and my 
recollection is (|uite in accordance therewith/' 

The well deserved praise which Lieutenant M. L. Warson,has 
received from his brother officers, o;ives added value to the brief 
extracts submitted from his report: "The 43rd had the honor of 
being selected to lead the division, and did lead it in the charg-e, 
for which we had been especially drilled, the object of this drill 
being well known to every officer of the command, all of whom 
felt proud of the honor of our being chosen for the dangerous dis- 
tinction. We took our place on the night of July 29th, massed 
near the entrance to the covered way, into which we moved next 
morning, to tind our way obstructed by white troops, whom we fi- 
nally pushed and crowded by, went to their front, where and when 
the line officers of the regiment tirst knew that a change of plan, 
had put our division in the i-ear of the white troops of the yth 
Corps. My view of the explosion was unobstructed, and was pre- 
ceded ])y one or two slight motions of the earth, somethirg like 
a heavy swell at sea, a duU rumbling sound (not loud) like distant 
thunder, then the uplifting of earth like an island which seemed 
suspended in the air and held as by invisible hands, supported as 
it were by gigantic columns of smoke and Hame, all this but for a 
moment then, like the vomiting of a volcano, it burst into innu- 
merable fragments and fell a confused inextrical)le mass of earth, 
muskets, cannon, men; an awful debris. Nearer we moved and 
awaited orders, my breakfast was brought In' my servent, (other 
officers state the same fact), after eating, the Colonel called the offi- 
cers to the right of the regiment, and quietly said: "Gentlemen we 
have a little work to do this morning. 1 hoi)e e\ erv man will do 
his duty. Good morning, gentlemen.' Modest words, modest as 
the man who spake them, for a braver and more gallant officer 
never led soldiers into action than C/olonel H. 8e3aiK)ur Hall. He 
lost his right arm in that charge." 

"Over our works, up the slope swept l)y the tire of the eneniN' 
to the crater, to its right the Colonel led the regiment, along the 
front of the enemy's works, so close that both officers and men were 
wounded by bayonet thrusts, and their clothing burned by powder 
flashes from the guns of the enemy, faced us by the left flank, and 
charged; the regiment Avent- ov(!r the intrenchments, capturing 



— 29 — 

nore prisoners than we numbered men. Was this achievement 
3ver surpassed or even equalled^ Later a confused mass of troops 
vere to our left, near the crater, white and black ming.led, seven 
lao-s were in close proximity there. Some of the 43rd remained 
ill the tinal charg-e of the enemy, aljout 2 p. m. , and think it was the 
.AST TO LEAVE THE enemy's WORKS.'" He concludes by saying 
hat he was proud of the regiment, and felt that it had done its 
luty, capturing the only prisoners and only flags, and achieving 
he only sem])lance of success in that disastrous battle. 

The lifth company from the right, had only been with us a 
few days when we crossed from the north side of the James, and 
ts Captain, Albert D, Wright, has the proud distinction of hav- 
ing captured and brought oti' a stand of rel)el colors, which I am 
informed he delivered to General Ferrero, our division command- 
er, in person. It is reported that he worked his way throvigh a 
picket passage in the ul)])attis, and went over the ene- 
my's works toward the right of the regiment, followed by about 
ten men, some of G and some of F company, saw a rebel color 
sticking above a rifle pit in rear of the line we charged, jumped on 
the mound of earth, aimed his empty pistol down at the color 
sjuard, and demanded their surrender. He says that at the same 
time, some of the men with him came in at the entrance from the 
breastworks, and the color guard of about six at once surrender- 
ed, praying him to protect them from the "niggers", and were 
sent to our lines. We then went to our right to a curve in the rebel 
works, and in throwing sandbags across to protect us from their 
Are, I was wounded in the right arm, and started liack taking my 
captured flag with me, passing Captain Wilkinson, and as I kept 
on back along the works saw the most of our ofiicers who were 
not killed or wounded. At a point indicated near the crater, ^vhere 
Gen. Sigf ried says the l^alance of his brigade halted, I met Colonel 

with his regiment, and as soon as he saw the flag in my hands, 

he asked me for it, and when I refused him, went so far as to take 
hold of it and try to w^rest it from me. A number of men from 
our regiment shouted at him to "drop it", and I ordered him to do 
so, he did it but very relunctantly. 1 then went into the crater, and 
back to our line, where General Ferrero received the flag from me. 
When I flrst reached the rebel works they were fully manned, and 
the tire from them was the most terribly murderous ever encoun- 



— 30 — 

tered \)y me. Nearly every man who went over the works with 
me struck down one of the enemy with the bayonet, and thrust 
every man they could overtake. It is a satisfaction to the writer 
of this paper to state that he collected additional evidence of the 
fact of the capture of this stand of colors liy Captain Wright, as 
stated in the report of our brig-ade commander, and he recom- 
mended to the War Department that a Medal of Honor be award- 
ed to Ca})tain Wrio-ht, which was done. 

Lieutenant Robert W. Armstrono-, w^as the only other officer 
with Caj)tain Wrio-ht's company that day, and lie distinjj-uished 
himself 1)}^ the recapture of a stand of National Colors, taken from 
some other of our troops, that morninor. I did not see this, and 
as the Lieutenant was killed a few days later, no report was ever 
had from him, nor have I been able to g-et any further information 
from eye witnesses. He was a very brig-ht and promisins^ • chris- 
tian young man, whom wo all res[)ected and were coming to love 
in so short a time as he was with us, but I do not know where was 
his home, or the name and address of any of his relatives. 

To the left of G, war company D, led tliat day by its Captain, 
Benjamin B. lllackman, who died after a few years of exceptional 
success in the practice of law. No report of his has been found 
by me, and I can say nothing of his experience, but his bravery 
is admitted by all who knew him, and his memory is deserving of 
honor. His Lieutenant, Ezra S. Dean, the only other officer on 
the field Avith the company in that l)attle, has left a brief account. 
He has failed to give much of his experience, and his coolness and 
))rave devotion to duty, entitle hi n t)m'ieh higher praise than 
his brief story shows. It does show that he was doing his duty, 
when it says: ''We started forward as the command was given, 
but the left of the company had to rush to close up, some of my 
men fell out i)et^veen the lines, I went after them, and brought 
them up to the company just as it turned by the left flank to take 
the intrenchments. After we carried the works and our Colonel 
reformed th(; regiment, our loss ^vas so great, that our line was 
very short; it did not appear to be more than a, few yards from me 
to Colonel Hall when he was hit. A short time after he was tak- 
en from the field, an officer started up to give the command "for- 
ward," which was the last efi'ort, so far as I know to move for- 
\vard. Later the rebel line came steadily forward at trail arms. 



— 31 — 

aiiie up on ns, and as we fell back, o;ave us a tremendously se- 
'ere cross lire. " This is all that I can lind from a most gallant 
(fficer and estimable o-entleman. 

The extreme left of my regiment was Compary B, whose able, 
ifficient, and brave Captain, John D. Brown, rose from a sick bed 
ind voluntarilv took his place with his company, when utterly un- 
it for duty, and was compelled to take to his bed again as soon as 
he battle was over. He has left me no record of what he saw and 
vhat he did, greatly to ni}^ regret. Some papers written by his 
lieutenants have come into my possession that will have to supply 
he dehciency. 

Lieutenant James W. Steele, was with the right of his com- 
)any, and his statement shows that the enemy did hold his works 
lown to the crater when the 43rd charged to our right and took 
[hem. This accomplished officer, who was subsequently a ("aptain 
of the U. S. Army and is a celebrated author, says "I know some- 
hing about the prisoners, for there was a half determination on 
he part of a good many of the black soldiers to kill them as fast 
IS they came to them. They were thinking of Fort Pillow and 
qnall l)hun<^ to them. The first l)atch I saw had been driven to- 
gether just in front of the line of earthworks we had taken and 
)ccupied, I climl)ed over and rushed out there to save them from 
:he group of men of my own company who in two minutes would 
[lave bayoneted the last poor devil of them. It was a queer place 
for an argument, but I was met by cries that 'they would kill us, 
md had killed us wherever they could find us, and we were going 
to change the game.' I put up the pieces with my hands, argued 
and cursed alternately, until the scared little crowd had ])een got 
over the earthwork and had scurried off to our rear. For one rea- 
son or another I crossed that enfiladed space between the lines four 
times ; also I was spattered with the brains of a soldier who was 
running lieside me. I have since been in some warm regions, but 
that 30th of July was the hottest day I ever felt in any land. The 
funniest thing was that old Remington revolver of mine. It would 
shoot the side off' of a tree at a hundred yards, and I had it with 
me. When I saw that the game was up, I reluctantly and with 
a feeling of despair began to get ready to cross the. enfilade for 
the last time. There was one man among the rebels who were 
coming who seemed to have a personal feeling in the matter. He 



— 32 — 

would stop to load, and while doino- so would g-rin diabolically, 
and shake his head. I th',)u«-ht that he thought he was on a nigger 
hunt, and it made me mad. So I climbed to the top of the earth- 
works, turned round and deliberately fired four times at that par- 
ticuhir soldier.-' 

''Just at the close of this somewhat boyish proceeding, I, my- 
self got a little slice taken out of the shoulder. I looked back 
just as I started to go, amid cries of 'come in heah Yank, or we 
gwine to killyeh,'to see if I could again discover my man aiuongst 
the ranks of the ch.irgaiN. I do not afi3rall this time to think 
about it, know whether 1 am glad or sorry that ho was not there. 

I remember the scene as the mine exploded, how it appeared 
after all that it had contained was about a hundred and twenty 
feet in the air, and before they came down again, I met Colonel 
Hall on his way out, his arm dangling and spoke to him. In reply 
to my recent request that he would write up the story, he says, 
"as leisure permits I am at your service to tell my own story of 
that day in my own way. But I should like first to go again and 
see the place. I have always wished to. To many living men the 
Mine at Petersl)urg is the most vivid memory of their lives, and 
for them more than for the establishment of any military fact 
should the story be told. I was then a lioy ; I am no^v middle 
aged. To me the story must be told with its personalities to l)e of 
interest and value, I am like others.'' The writer awaits with in- 
terest Captain Steele's volume. It will be classic and enduring. 

The positive statements of personal experience of the cool, 
clear headed, clear sighted, intrepid olficer, First Lieutenant L. 
H. Parkhurst, fittingly close up the story on the left of the com- 
mand. He states that Captain Brown was on the sick list, but 
took command of his company when it was ordered forward, this 
placing Parkhurst as he says, "with the rear of the regiment mov- 
ing l)y the right fiank ; a few of our men took shelter in the cra- 
ter whom I drove out, and know that there were no colored troops 
in the crater, Avhen our left had jiassed to the right of it, exce})t 
some wounded of the 43rd." 

"As I reached the left of the regiment, it had faced by the left 
flank, and was charging over the rebel works, I did the same. It 
was some time after this, before other colored troops connected 
with our left, which Avas some considerable distance beyond the 



— 33 — 

crater, where we remained a long time, when I saw the line of 
rebels coming a few rods otf, saw that I was nearly alone, and re- 
turned to our own line, which had opened tire on the enemy, mi- 
raculously escaping unhurt the terrific tire to which I was exposed 
from both lines. Captain Wilkinson commanded the regiment 
from the time Colonel Hall was wounded, till the arrival of Major 
Horace Bumstead, two or three days after. I think there were 
only 7 officers left for duty, Captain Wilkinson took one for ad- 
jutant, leaving 5 line officers to command T companies. Captain 
Brown was still sick, and I had command of two companies. Be- 
fore the battle, I was in charge of the detail that hnished the cov- 
ered way through which we advanced, and on the 3rd of August, 
in conunand of a l)urial party, laid away our dead, in a wide and 
deep trench, between the lines, as the rebs delivered them to me 
at the truce line. How many I cannot say. Quite a numl)er 
were blown to pieces, by bursting shells, and I could not tell 
where the fragments l^elonged ; they were liuried with the others. 
After three days the bodies were so black and l^loated, as to be 
beyond recognition, and colored could only be told from white by the 
hair. I buried them all side l)y side, regardless of color or rank, 
and leveled the ground as smooth as possible." 

The report of General Meade, as well as his testimony before 
the commission of which General Hancock was President, shows 
a strong feeling against the colored troops, but space prevents lit- 
tle more than reference to his report and other documents. He 
has no good word to say for them, although the evidence of the 
records proves conclu-iiv3ly, that my seven companies of colored 
soldiers c.iptirel more thin four fifths of the 218 prisoners, and 
one of the two stands of colors that ho reports were taken l)y his 
entire army that day, he gives us no credit whatever, but blames 
the colored division for the failure, though his own orders kept us 
out of the fight till his other troops had given it i p as a lost bat- 
tle, refused to allow us whom General Burnside selected, and whom 
after an inspection an officer of his own stafl' had pronounced l^est 
fitted to lead the assault as Burnside proposed and urged, and 
which General Grant subsequently stated on oath, he believed 
we would have made a success, though he did hold with General 
Meade before the action. General Meade admits while testifying 
before the investigatins: commission, with some show of reluc- 



— 34 — 

lance, ''From the report-; transmitted I cannot perceive that the 
colored troops were more to Ijhime than the others." 

General A. A. Humphreys, Meade's chief of staff, in his 
''Campaio;n of '64 and '65", says of our, (Ferroro's) Division: "A 
part of them were led oft' to the rio^ht, and 2:ot oft' into the en- 
trenchments there, where they had some ftghting, capturing 200 
prisoners and a- color". I repeat that no res^iment of our said di- 
vision is reported as having;' captured any prisoners or colors, or 
being- in any position where such captures were possible on that day, 
except the Forty-Third. No other regiment went to the right at 
that time when it charged and carried the enemy's intrenchments 
and captured those prisoners and colors. 

General Burnside, our Corps commander, says: "a part of the 
column was deflected to the right, and charged and captured a por- 
tion of the enemy's line with a stand of colors and some prisoners. 
Of the enemy's tirst counter charge and its result, he states, "But 
not all of the colored troops retired, some held the pit?, severely 
checking the enemy till they were nearly all killed, and this cor- 
roborates those officers of the 43rd, who state that it was the last 
to leave the captured works. Captain Sanders, of General 
Meade's staft" was with General Burnside, and at 8:45 a. m., sent a 
dispatch to Meade, "One set of colors just sent in captured by the 
negroes." As I have before stated, no official report shows any 
colors or prisoners captured by any colored regiment l>ut the 43rd 
that fixes the hour of our charge at about eight o'clock in the 
morning. 

General Edward Ferrero, our division commander, was sworn 
thirty days after the battle, and testified that his leading brigade 
engaged the enemy a short distance in rear of the crater, where they 
captured some 200-od(l prisoners, and a stand of colors, and re- 
captured a stand of colors ])elonging to a white regiment of our 
corps. In a letter to me he says that it is correct in all particu- 
lars, that he went to our first line of works, and there remained to 
see his command go through. The 48rd was the first over, then 
Colonel Humphreys' brigade, followed in on the left of Colonel 
Hall's regiment, cutting of the rest of my division from its leading 
regiment, the 43rd, for some little time; it went on charged and 
carried the re1)el works at the right of the Mine, before the bal- 
ance of my division could get up to the assistance of the Forty- 



— 35 — 

Third, and it alone, unaided and unsupported, captured a stand of 
rebel colors, recaptured a stand of National colors, and took and 
sent to our lines two hundred prisoners belonging mostly to a 
South Carolina regiment, the only prisoners and colors captured 
by my division that day. General Ferrero is referred to in what 
General Burnside says about the originator of the first plan of as- 
sault, and General Ferrero states General Grant said he be- 
lieved that it would have given us success, had it been carried out. 
General Joshua K. Sigfried, then Colonel 48th Fenna. Vols., 
who did the mining, was our brigade commander, and I use him 
freely as heretofore, as undoubted authority, and to show how the 
conduct oi the regiment \\'as regarded by others at the time. He 
writes that, ''in the evening before, after we had marched down in- 
to the woods Ijack of my bomlj-proof. General Meade ordered a 
council of war, o1)]'ect(Kl to the colored troops making the charge, 
on account of want of experience, as he put it, but really, as I 
think, because he was opposed to the colored troops anywhere, and 
General Burnside finally agreed to leave it to General Grant, who 
sided with General Meade, and we were kept until the last. Had 
the original plan been adhered to, I am perfectly satisfied Peters- 
burg would haN e l)een in our possession before 10 o'clock that day. 
Generals Grant and Meade both admitted that to me afterwards. 
The Forty-Third went farther, did Ijetter under the most destruc- 
ive fire from the artillery and infantry of the enem}-, after giving 
them some three hours time for -concentration than could l)e ex- 
pected." 

A further recognition of the conspicuously gallant services of 
those officers and men of tha 43rd on this bloody field, was the 
subsequent promotion by the President, by and with the advice and 
consent at the Senate, of its commander on that field, Lieutenant 
Colonel H. Seymour Hall to be Brigadier General U. 8. Volun- 
teers, l)y Brevet, "for gallant and meritorious services in the as- 
sault on th(; enenn^'s works at the Mine before Peterslmrg, Virgin- 
ia," as is stated in his commission. General Sigfried writes, after 
making his oflicial report that: 

"iV>man ever led a regiment under such a severe fire through 
several divisions of other troops who had preceded them, and who 
had squatted in a place of shelter, as did General Hall the 43rd U. 
S. C. T. , that 30th day of July, 1864. When the order came for 



— 36 — 

us to go in, I asked permission to charge on the line direct, with- 
out o'oino- through the crater, and I said, I will take it now, and 
I am confident, had I been permitted to do so, with General Hall 
in the lead, we would have ])een successful. I can see him yet 
brought l)ack to the crater, as he made the remark 'I tot)k the rifle 
l)it, but I am done, my arm is all shattered.' Major Frank Hol- 
singer, then a Captain in the 19th Regiment U. S. C. T., states 
that his regiment was still inside our own works, when General 
Hall was taken past them wounded, that he raised his left hand 
toward the enemy, and said, 'go in l)oys there is plenty there for 
all of you.' This further proves that the 4P)rd, must have l)een 
far in advance of the rest of the division, as it had already charged 
the works, captured the colors, and taken the prisoners, which as 
Harper's History of the rebellion says, 'was the only semblance 
of success on that fatal day.' A few weeks after the battle, be- 
fore he could have forgotten, General Grant was testifying un- 
der oath, before the committee of Congress on the conduct of the 
war, and in answer to a tpiestion said, •General Burnside wanted 
to put his colored troops in the lead, and I believe if he had done 
so we would have been successful." 

"The re[)orts of the enemy are few and ])rief, and are silent 
about any surrender of works, colors, or })risoners to the negroes, 
l)ut General B. R. Johnson, commanding the division that we as- 
saulted, reports that Elliott's brigade, occu})ied the mine and to 
our right and left, its loss being 698, 3.51 of wliom are reported 
missing. All the Infantry of this brigade, were South C-arolina 
regiments, connnanded by Colonel McMaster, after General Elli- 
ott was wounded. The 200 prisoners taken by the 43rd were 
doubtless some of the missing." 

Our accomi)lished and efhcient Assistant Surgeon, Dr. A. I>. 
Lowe, had no assistance till three days after this ))attle, when 
Surgeon A. Waterhous(^ joined for duty as did the other three 
com])anies, under the scholarly gentleman, and gallant soldier. 
Major Bumstead, then late graduate of Yale, now the Rev. Horace 
Bumstead, D. D., President of Atlanta University. The Major 
served with honor in the field till the regiment was mustered out 
in the fall of 1865. He has l)een solicited by General Hall to write 
the balance of the record of service of the -tSrd, a task for which 
he is preeminently qualified. 



— 37 — 

Captain Joseph Forbes was sick, Lieutenant J. C. Hankey, in 
charge of the ambulance train, Lieutenant M. W. Sawyer, 
acting regimental quartermaster, many enlisted men were on de- 
tached service. The 43rd Regiment went into action with only 18 
commissioned officers, and 328 enlisted men. Of these 1 officer 
and 40 men were killed, 10 officers and 94 men wounded, 2 officers 
wounded and captured, a total of 147, or 42 1-2 per cent. 
Our colors were cut in tatters, the lance shot off by musket balls, 
and the staff of our regimental color partly cut off by the fire of 
the enemy, less than 200 of these brave officers and men retired at 
the last moment, safely l^ringing off' the bullet riddled remnants of 
their colors, before an overwhelming force of the enemy, led 
against our right by Generals B. R. Johnson and Ransom, and 
against the crater and our left by General William Mahone, leaders 
and men whose bravery had been tried on many fields, and in its 
contest with these worthy representatives of southern valor, it can- 
not be said that the Forty-Third regiment United States Colored 
Troops disgraced the military service, but in truth it must be stat- 
ed that it won imperishable renown. 



APPENDIX. 

The following letter was written by the writer of the forego- 
ing paper, before he had the Official Records, or the reports of his 
officers. It was not intended as a criticism on General Thomas, 
whose warm friend the writer is, but to set right some things of 
which the General had no personal knowledge, his article as pub- 
lished in the book was changed from the magazine paper in the 
mattery referred to l)y me, and part of my letter inserted there- 
with in "Battles and Leaders," as is referred to by Captain Burr. 
I quote it from my retained copy in full: 

"MoNTHALL Farm, Carroll Co., Missouri, 

Bogard Post Office, January 11, 1888. 
To The Century Co.^ New York: 

Petersburg Mine — Battle of July 30, 1864. 
In his article on the colored troops at Petersburg in the last 
September Century Magazine, General Henry Goddard Thomas 
states that, 'The First Brigade, (Fourth Division, 9th Corps,) 
worked its way through the crater and was halted behind the hon- 
eycomb of bomb proofs." I can give no account of the move- 



— 38 — 

iiients of the reur reo;iiiients of the First Brio:a(ie, but as to the ad- 
vance, this is erroneous. The Forty-Third Resfiment U. S. C. T. 
havino- the advance of the 1st Brigade, was leadino- the division, 
and l)esides having only seven companies present, was the newest 
regiment in the Division. After an inspection of the Division by 
an othcer of General Biirnside's stati', tlie Forty-Third was selected 
to lead the assault which was to follow the explosion of the Mine, 
in the/zV.s/ }ilan of attack, and it still had the advance when the 
Division /z'y/'///?/ went into action. In command of, and the only 
held otlicer }U'esent with the Forty-Third Regiment at any time, 
in compliance with special orders, I drilled the conunand and care- 
fully inspected the ground over which we were to advance, for 
this latter purpose accompanying General J. F. Hartranft in his 
rounds when he was General Officer of the Trenches. 

When the order to lead out from the covered way was given 
me, we marched by the flank, scraml)led, climbed, or ju]U})ed, as 
l)est we could, over our outer works, dou1)le quick swept up the 
slope, already the center of a tornado of shot and shell, through 
which leading my command directly to the crater, mounting the 
L-iX'A of the (Irhi'ls^ I saw at once the utter ho[)clessness of passing 
the enemy's lines through and over the mass of soldiers in the 
yawning gulf. Without an instants pause the Forty- Third fol- 
lowed my lead to our right around on the crest of the crater's rim 
till near the enemy's main line of intrenchments on our right, 
which was at that time fully manned l)y the rebel forces, who were 
concentrating on us a deadly tire of musketry, v.nd flaunting their 
colors defiantly almost in our very faces. Still at the double 
quick, changing direction to the right, leading the conunand in 
front of and parallel to the intrenchments held by the enemy, as 
soon as sufficient distance was taken, I gave the conunand to march 
))y the left flank, and as the line thus formed faced the enemy, gave 
the order to '"WJiargc''^ Officers and men swept resistlessly on, 
over the enemy's intrenchments, without an instants pause or wav- 
er, capturing nearly all the force in ou^ inuuediate front, proba- 
bly over 100 prisoners, the stand of rebel colors mentioned, and 
recapturing a stand of National Colors. All this occupied seem- 
ingly few minutes from the time we left the covered way, but we 
were exposed to the most terriflc concentration of musketry and 
artillery tire it had ever been mv lot to encounter, serving from 
Bull Run July 21st 1861, to this 30th day of July, 1864, and our 
losses were fearful. We had opened a gateway, but the crest of 
the ridge beyond the crater, our objective point, was not yet 
gained. Galhuitly the survivors closed up their ranks, and 
ner\'ed themselves for the struggle as I reformed them inside the 
captured intrenchments. 

Probably the halt mentioned ])y General Thomas, was when 



— 39 — 

the balance of the biro-ade was halted l^ehind the line on the left of 
my reo-inient as is stated by General Sig-f ried. Just as I was about 
to o-ive the order to my regiment to advance and charge Ceme- 
tery ridge, my right arm fell useless to my side, pierced and shat- 
tered near my shoulder by a musket ball. Recovering my saber, 
which had dropped from my hand, I retired from the field of bat- 
tle to an ambulance, thence to the amputating table. This ended 
my campaigning till my return to the Forty Third in the field in 
front of Richmond, March 2.3th, 1^6.3, in time to make the entry 
into Richmond on the morning of April ord, with General Thom- 
as' Brigade, then in the t.^5th Corps,and ))y his order I was Prcjvost 
Marshal of Manchester District. 

At the battle of the Mine before Petersl)urg, Va., the Forty- 
Third Regiment United States Colored Troops had not more than 
19 otiicers and 330 enlisted men in line; 1 officer and 28 men were 
killed, 10 ofiicers and 94 men were wounded, 2 ofiicers and 12 men 
were missing — total 147. The colors were tattered, and the color 
lance splintered and shivered into a dozen })ieces l)y mus- 
ket l)alls. No report was made l)y me of the operations of the 
regiment, l>y reason of the loss of my right arm, my transfer to 
the North, and my subsequent detail' by \he War De[)artment to 
command Camp Casey, and as Chief Mastering Ofiicer of the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, till my ami)utation healed. This extract from 
the Oflicial Report of Colonel Sigfried, our In'igade commander, 
was sent me in October l<S(i4, (I have it vet) showing as originally, 
••A true copy, D. Bates, Colonel 30th U. S. C. T." It says: ^'The 
43r(l U. 8. C. T. moved over the crest of the crater, and towards 
the right, charged the enemy's entrenchments, and took them, cap- 
turing a ruimber of prisoners and a stand of rebel colors, and re- 
cai)turing a stand of National colors. This line was part of the con- 
tinuous line connecting with the crater. Lieutenant Colonel H. 
Seymour Hall, 43rd Regiment lost his right arm while bravely 
leading his conmiand." 

(xeneral Thomas was misinformed about my Adjutant, O'Brien, 
being shot through the heart. He was shot through the left shoul- 
der, 'i)romoted to Cai)tain, served with meat Camp Casey, entering 
Richmond, in Texas after the close of the war, though suft'ering 
l)ainfully at times from his wound. The limits of this letter for- 
l)id mention of names and incidents well worth a place in history. 
Let me only state here, that no otticer of my command hesitated to 
lead his men to what seemed certain death, and heroes with skins 
of darker hue, grandly proved their title to freedom, on the soil of 
the state that once ranked many of them as slaves. 

H. Sfa'mour Hall." 

AVhilc s})eaking of General Thomas, I wish my readers to note 
})articularly and investigite ; he does not claim either in his offi- 
cial report^ or paper, that his brigade, which was the only other 



— 40 — 

brigade in our Division of Colored Troops, besides ours, (Sig- 
fried's,) captured any j^risoners or colors, as he certainly would 
have done hud it done so. Neither does General Sigfried report, 
nor claim, that any of the regiments of his Brigade, except the 
•i3rd, took a single ])risoner or color. Major General Ferrero, 
our Division commander, who was where he could know, contirms 
all that I claim for mv regiment in these respects. After the 
reading of the foregoing paper. Colonel Brown, U. S. Army, said 
to me that he was on General Turner's staft', and saw our charge, 
saw O'Brien as I descril)e him, and that General Turner and he 
were lost in admiration of his gallantry, ('olonel William H. 
Powell, U. S. A., was on the stall' of General Ledlie, 1st Division, 
and tells what he saw, thus ; "But the leading l)rigade, (of the 
cohered trooi)s,) struck the enemy which I had previously reported 
as massed in front of the crater, and in a sharp little action the 
colored troops captured some two hundred prisoners and a stand 
of colors and recaptured a stand of colors belonging to a white 
regiment of the Ninth Cor])s. In this almost hand to hand con- 
flict the colored troops became somewhat disorganized, and some 
twenty minutes were consumed in reforming ; then they made the 
attem|)t to move forward again. Had any one in authority been 
present when the colored troops made their charge, and had they 
been supported, even at that late hour in the day there would have 
been a possi1)ility of success,"" 

See also the full and very interesting account of the Reverend 
George L. Kilmer, then a soldier in the 14th N. Y. Heavy Artil- 
lery, he had also served two years in the 2Tth N. Y. V^ols., Gen- 
Slocum's regiment, when I was also a member of that regiment, 
a fact of which he is not awai'e ; all three papers in "Battles and 
Leaders," Dr. Kilmer says, "The last rally was when the colored 
division moved out from our works in splendid order, which ])rom- 
ised us success. Growlers were put to shame now, and most of 
them fell into line to go forward. Some few declared that they 
would never follow 'niggers'' or be caught in their com])any, and 
started back to our own lines but were promptly driven forward 
again. Then the colored troops broke and scattered and ])ande- 
monium began. The bravest lost heart, and the men who dis- 
trusted the negroes vented their feelings freely. Some colored 
men came into the crater, and there they found a worse fate than 
death in the charge." 

H. S. HALL. 



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